Эссенциализм в структуре интенсивного материнства у российских женщин

Abstract

Intensive motherhood is one of the popular styles of parenthood in Russia, emphasizing the key role of the mother as the “main” parent able to take good care of the child. At the same time, fathers are viewed through the lens of their inability to provide the required care for the child. This article presents the results of a qualitative study obtained through interpretive-phenomenological analysis (IPA) based on a semi-structured interview method using the Russian-language version of the Parenting Attitudes Questionnaire (IPAQ) (Liss, Schiffrin Mackintosh et al. 2013). The sample comprised 18 women (N = 18), reflecting maximum demographic diversity, aged 30–46 (M = 36.3) with children under 18. The study identified the phenomena of essentialist attitudes in the structure of intensive motherhood among Russian women: (1) the belief in the “innate” superiority of the mother in comparison with the father in child rearing (biological determinism), and (2) the presence of cultural traditions of essentialism, the detailed content of which is reflected in the subthemes. The study also revealed the influence of life context, macrodeterminants of society and socio-demographic characteristics of women on the stability of expression of essentialism attitudes in the context of intensive motherhood. To a certain extent, low involvement of fathers in parenthood is a marker of essentialist attitudes in the family. At the same time, the study reveals that women have clearly ambivalent views on the participation of male partners in child rearing— the ambivalence is manifested in the ideas of gender equality in the development and formation of the child. The study employed the perspective and method which resulted in an in-depth analysis of the attitudes of intensive parenthood, highlighting the features of its cultural context.